1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of avionic test equipment and in particular to a breakout unit by means of which electronic systems on board an aircraft can be tested.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Avionic equipment aboard aircraft must be periodically tested for certification and in the course of maintenance be accessed for diagnostic testing. The number and complexity of onboard avionic systems, even on smaller aircraft continues to increase.
Typically, the manufacturers of an onboard avionic system will also build and provide a breakout unit which can be plugged into the avionic system and provide access to a number of contact points to which scopes, meters or other primary testing equipment can be appropriately connected to test signals and voltages at critical or test points in the system without the necessity of removing the system from the aircraft or attempting to locate, identify and access points within otherwise inaccessible circuit boards or sensors.
However, no two avionic systems placed on board are alike and there is no universal format or means of accessing such systems. Clearly, different points within an automatic pilot system as opposed to a telecommunications system or servo-control system will each have dramatically different circuits and different points which need to be accessed and tested for different signals.
Therefore, in order for service personnel to adequately test a wide range of aircraft, it is necessary that service personnel have a specific breakout unit for each system. The cost of the breakout unit is not inconsequential and the need for many different breakout systems, each adapted by design to a different avionic system or model of a given avionic system, aggregates to a substantial investment in test equipment and serves as a barrier to full service, competent avionic maintenance.
Therefore, what is needed is some type of apparatus and method which avoids these shortcomings of the prior and which allows avionic certification and maintenance personnel to fully service any kind of electronic system on any kind of an aircraft.